Ford will resume the assembly of the F-150 Lightning trucks once all fire-prone batteries have been replaced. According to Motor Authority quoting Ford representative Emma Berg, only 18 vehicles are affected and the production is set to resume later today, March 13.
The assembly lines over at Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, stopped in early February when a single faulty pickup truck caught fire during charging before it could pass its final checkup and be shipped to a dealership. The company launched an investigation together with its battery supplier, SK On, and discovered a manufacturing defect that led to the fire.
The specifics aren’t disclosed, but Ford had received faulty batteries over the final four weeks of the past year. Only 18 vehicles have reached their respective buyers since then. As such, the company said it would be replacing the troublesome units “A.S.A.P.” while providing everyone affected with replacement cars.
The remaining F-150 Lightning owners were informed that their trucks had passed all QA tests and had no anomalous telemetry readings whatsoever, meaning they had nothing to worry about in this regard.